Life Broadcast to the World Without SEO
My education has taught me that respect for a discipline necessitates study of it’s history. After that (and only then) can you truly hope to master it. Personal blogging has become my fixation. For some time now, I’ve sought to learn from current bloggers of notoriety and have mostly gotten used to tired posts on how to get the most “hits” and uninteresting “tricks” of some trade that eludes me. I’ve even written a few posts like that in emulation. Recently I started typing in words like “first blogs” and “blog history” into Google and I started to see the mystery of why I’ve been so mysteriously drawn to produce “blog posts” unfold. In fact, a historical “fold” of online diarists began to reveal itself page-click after after page-click, growing like time-elapsed photography of a small town’s comings and goings.
Wikipedia led me to the Online Diary History Project and I am so glad. My friends out there interested in the Gargantuan “NICHE” called “personal blogging” might enjoy reading it as I have. There are a ton of interviews with the first “online diary” authors from around 1993-1998. Prior to “page rank” and all the rest of the nonsense, these people kept online journals for purposes ranging from hating their job and looking for a new one to living with and beating the odds of AIDS.
Everyday writings in an online diary
It’s refreshing to read the interviews where no one mentions seo or digg or all the other accoutrements of today’s average “blogger.” I’ve been trying hard to find the best personalblogs/online diarists extant and have added quite a few to my reader. I’ve even added the best already to my blogroll. Incidentally, I read one of the best pieces of writing (not just blog writing) today on a new blog I had found, 4th Avenue Blues. I recommend reading it. It is like an oil painting in words. This is the kind of stuff I want to read, get to know, and promote on my blogroll. If you know of any from YOUR travels, please continue to let me know.
So far, my blogroll shows the best personal bloggers I know of (if you are interested in reading LIFE and not just SEO, have a look!) The most powerful and purely “online diarists” I’ve read lately are listed below. Head over and dialog with them on their stuff. That’s mostly what it’s all about, wouldn’t you say?
- Confessions of a Sophisticated Writer
- Courting Destiny
- Future Cave Paintings
- Here in Katie’s Head
- Hot Coffee Girl
- Life is RANTastic!
- the art of getting by
- The Doc Searls Weblog
- This Eclectic Life
- Tommy Devines Online Journal
- Tumbled Words
If you’re like me, and you have this kind of blog, then you should head over to the Online Diary History Project when you’re done answering emails and reading your circle of blogposts. I haven’t read all the interviews yet, but in my spare minutes over the past days I’ve read a few and they have been really eye opening. Knowledge is power and knowledge of the history in a discipline teaches you the mistakes to avoid.
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Tags: blog, computers, Cyberculture, Inspiration, invention, Self-Improvement, writing
At the risk of introducing an unwanted term, I’d like to offer the informed opinion that some of the best “SEO” for a blog is good, tight, lean writing.
Not that I always practice that ideal.
That, my friend, is VERY WELL SAID! I’m gonna save that for a tagline someday! Thanks for the comment.
Norski did say it well, and you have been saying similar, too! Thank you, Damien, for including me in that list. I will run read those I haven’t yet — and the Online Diary History. Keep on writing. And while I have your attention — I’d love it if you would write one day about the experience of writing a song.
Wow!!! Maybe I’ll do that one today. It’s the tail end of my vacation and I’ve been looking for topics! It is a notable experience writing a song to be sure. Like blog ideas, not all of them make it!
I’m honored that you would include me on that list, Damien. Because I didn’t know how to even send an e-mail until about 1997, I missed out on reading the on-line diaries. I didn’t even know what a blog was until a little over a year ago. Duh. I’ll have to check out your link. Thanks for sharing it.